Yemen's ex-president Ali Abdullah Saleh has been killed in Sanaa, the radio station of the Houthi-controlled interior ministry said.

Footage circulating on social media on Monday appeared to display a body resembling Saleh, with one video showing how armed militiamen used a blanket to move the corpse into the back of a pickup truck.

There has been no independent confirmation of Saleh's death.

Saleh's party earlier denied that their leader had been killed and said he was continuing to lead forces in their clashes against the Houthis in the capital, Sanaa.

He has made no public appearances since the reports of his death surfaced.

Sources close to Saleh told Al Jazeera that the head of the former president's security detail, Hussein al-Hamidi, was also killed, but did not provide further details.

Earlier on Monday, a Sanaa-based activist told Al Jazeera that the Houthi rebels had gained control of the majority of the country's capital from Saleh's forces.

"Only small pockets remain," Hussain Albukhaiti, who has close ties to the Iranian-backed Houthis, added.

Albukhaiti said that fighters had secured key areas south of the capital, including the "very strategic" Al-Mesbahi residential area, which is approximately 200 metres from Saleh's home.

"The area around his home is completely surrounded and may be taken over by the Houthis within the next few hours," he said.

Saleh ruled Yemen for more than three decades and played a pivotal role in the country's ongoing civil war.